Dive Brief:

• Washington, D.C. was identified as a "school choice nirvana" by experts participating in a panel discussion on day one of the Education Commission of the States National Forum on Education Policy in San Diego. The efforts in the district, said Michael Petrilli, executive director of the Fordham Institute, serve as an example that "competition can work to lift all boats," as both charter schools and district schools are seeing increases in student performance metrics in the districts.
• In addition to Washington, D.C., Denver and Indianapolis and the state of Tennessee serve as national models for the school choice conversation. But the biggest news on school choice, said Petrilli, wasn't the appointment of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education, but the provisions in Colorado and Florida which allowed charter schools to access the property tax revenues from the areas in which they reside. 
• The states and districts which are seeing success are focusing on "getting the oversight right," and they're focusing on financing, said Petrilli, who conceded, "you cannot do school choice on the cheap and expect to get good results."

Dive Insight:

M. Karega Rausch, vice president of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, said during a Wednesday panel at the Education Commission of the States National Forum on Education Policy that "there is a role for states houses and state capitals to play in the robust funding of these schools," noting that the operation of charters can't just be left to the philanthropic sector, but needs to have the involvement of career educators and state education officials. And it isn't just the direct funding of schools where Rausch sees an imperative for state involvement; it's on the professional development side as well. In championing "a really exact process to ensure quality folks are put in charge to lead this work...if you have a robust infrastructure for investment in human capital to develop people to lead these efforts," you'll have better results for students, Rausch said. 

Petrilli also pointed out a need to reform the approach to discipline in charter schools in order to promote better student success. "You have to deal with expulsions," he said. "You can't just let charters kick kids out all willy nilly if they're going to increasingly be the main option" for schooling across the country.